Feb. 16, 2018
08:41 am JST

Agree with other posters here, Japan should not be allowed to decide its own view on history, only the victors get to write history

The Republic of China, a WWII Allied Victor, now Taiwan is not disputing the Senkakus. The PRC, which did not even exist until 4 years after WWII ended is disputing it.

Likewise, The Republic of Korea did not exist during WWII as the entire Korean Peninsula was part of the Japanese Empire from 1910-1945. South or North Korea was not a WWII "Victor". In addition, over 240,000 Koreans, most of them willingly and before conscription went into effect in 1943, served in the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces. Obvioudly they can't be a "Victor".

Feb. 16, 2018
12:52 am JST

Ossan, China also has books claiming Japanese are Chinese. In fact Japan does have Xu Fu descendants. Is that a teaching ? China is a big minded state, they teach Japan and China should forever be friendly, is there similar teaching in Japan ? Japan should stop provoking troubles among neighbors and look at the issues in totality. More than 70 years since the war ended, Northeast Asia still is not fully united, despite the fact that there is thousand years long history of shared culture and civilization. Abe has to take some responsibility for that. There is a momentum of a leading role of Northeast Asia in 21 century. Abe should seriously reflect on his policy as what direction would Japan take. Does Abe want to remain to be a Northeast Asian, or he would give up his Asianship ?

Feb. 15, 2018
06:05 pm JST

Feb. 15, 2018
03:40 pm JST

@SpectrumToday 02:24 pm JST

Agree with other posters here, Japan should not be allowed to decide its own view on history, only the victors get to write history

If the victors unconditionally get to write history, then shouldn't Korea shut up about their annexation? Clearly, they lost there, and in the worst, most irrevocable possible way. And they hadn't won a later war, either.

Feb. 15, 2018
03:32 pm JST

What visitors to Japan and ex pats think aside...any sovereign state is entitled to claim disputed territory as their own. Japanese kidz should be taught what is there’s because that is Japan’s National stance on the matter.

Catering to liberals and millennials that wanna judge whether everything is politically correct and cute sounding has nothing to do with anything.

Feb. 15, 2018
12:58 pm JST

China teaches their children that the Senkakus are China's, and South Korea teaches their children that Takeshima is theirs. Yet Japan can not do the same? Only Japan has to teach that the islands are disputed"? By what rationale?

Japan has asked South Korea to settle the issue at the ICJ three times and each time they have refused. China itself refuses to bring a claim for the Senkakus to the ICJ because Chia doesn't recognize international jurisdiction over Chinese sovereignty issues.

Feb. 15, 2018
12:50 pm JST

Back in England, I went to a thoroughly nasty, right-wing school, staffed by lazy fascists. I was there during the Falklands War and we were all encouraged, through little hints, (suddenly a new hymn at assembly, "For those in Peril on the Sea"), to get onside with the defeat of the "Argies".

But not one teacher would have dared stand up and say "The Falklands are an integral part of British territory," because they'd have immediately lost their job.

Why? Because indoctrination of that type is illegal in state schools, and the people in charge of education are zealous in their attempts to stamp it out.

I don't often suggest that Japan (should I say the LDP?) should take a leaf out of England's book, but this is one case....

Feb. 15, 2018
11:50 am JST

Feb. 15, 2018
10:56 am JST

This is the kind of education one would expect in countries ruled by an autocrat, the kind of education that would be imposed by a Ministry of Propaganda.

A description that fits its Shinzo and his bureaucratic minions perfectly, does it not?

I don't know if everyone here knows this, but the Ministry of Education formed after WW2 was staffed almost soley by the Kempeitai, or thought police. I'm not making this up. So it makes perfect sense to teach that those islands are Japanese regardless of who administrates them. Thought control.

If it's necessary to even mention the islands, they should be described honestly, i.e. the Japanese government's view is this, the other country's view is that, and there is a dispute. If other countries are not doing the same, that is their loss and Japan doesn't need to worry about it.

Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world.

Feb. 15, 2018
10:43 am JST

If it's necessary to even mention the islands, they should be described honestly, i.e. the Japanese government's view is this, the other country's view is that, and there is a dispute. If other countries are not doing the same, that is their loss and Japan doesn't need to worry about it.

Feb. 15, 2018
10:22 am JST

They can teach what they like, but there's no way in hell they can just pop over to Dokdo or the Southern Kurils whenever they please. They have more chance of going to that block of cement covering that small piece of coral in the middle of the Pacific which has enabled the size of Japan's EEZ to become even larger than the mainland itself. Very clever, that.

Feb. 15, 2018
10:21 am JST

The point of education should be to teach people to think, not blindly believe everything, to teach people to ask questions and discuss.

Yeah, why can't Japan be more like the US and UK where critical thinking is taught at school and everyone thinks for themselves instead of as a mob to make educated, informed decisions, like Trump and Brexit?

Feb. 15, 2018
09:45 am JST

Oh, here we go again! Why can’t they just teach them as disputed instead of brainwashing teenagers?

Nothing to get stressed out about. You know for a fact that China and Korea are also teaching their students that these disputed islands are their own as well. Heck, Korea has a song about "their" precious little island.

If you feel differently, pull your kid to the side and tell them not to listen to the bs.